Zac Poonen – How to recognize God’s voice?
The Importance Of Hearing God’s Word – Zac Poonen
The overwhelming necessity of spending time each day with God’s Word is implied clearly in the words of Jesus to Martha in Luke 10: 38-42. Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” How striking are Jesus’ words to Martha in verse 42: “One thing is needful!” There may be plenty of good things to be done and many indeed that may justly be considered essential. But, Jesus affirmed, one thing above all others was needful. What was that one thing? There are many other things which may help us and which may prove useful, but this one thing above all others is absolutely essential. We can no more do without it than our physical bodies can do without oxygen. It is quite indispensable. The supreme essential for our spirits is indeed just this- to sit at the Lord’s feet daily to hear His Word.
The Lord Jesus knew, better than anyone else, all the factors that affect a man’s life. He knew every possible situation that any man could ever find himself in. He knew the dangers that lay ahead of every man and He knew all the wiles of Satan. He knew what was necessary for man’s spiritual growth, for He alone knew the relative importance and unimportance of things. Knowing all this, He said that one thing was needful above all else. He used similar words in Luke 4:4. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God.” This is a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3, where reference is made to the manna with which God fed the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. The Israelites were told there that God’s purpose in giving them the manna daily from heaven was that they might, in like manner, learn to receive God’s Word. If they were to be strengthened for their wilderness journey those Israelites needed the manna daily. Even so does man require to receive the Word of God daily, if he is to be empowered to face the trials and vicissitudes of life.
Jesus never made these statements lightly. He was seeking to impress upon His disciples the absolute necessity of hearing His Word daily. If that is true, then it follows that a life that is lived without time given to meditation on God’s written Word is a wasted life, no matter what else it may have achieved.
In Luke 17:26-30, Jesus tells us that the last days will be like the days of Noah and of Lot, in which people ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, built, and so on. Have you noticed that none of these things are sinful in themselves? They are all legitimate activities. Why then did Jesus mention them as being peculiarly characteristic of those sinful days? Because the people of those days were so occupied with these legitimate activities as to have no time for God at all. The Devil succeeded in getting them to crowd God out of their lives altogether. This of course resulted, as it always will, in moral decay and corruption.
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If we are to be effective witnesses for our Lord, it is imperative that we can spend time each day at His feet listening to His voice. There are many today who are ambitious to preach, who have never developed this habit of listening to God’s voice daily. The result is a sad paucity of “the word of the Lord” and a sickening abundance of man’s words. Of how very few of today’s preachers can it be said that” the word of the Lord is with him” (2 Kings 3:12). Yet this was the distinguishing mark of every true servant of God in the Bible. No man has the right to speak to other men about God, who has not first spent time listening to what God Himself says, and this refers to private witnessing as well as to public preaching. It is written of Moses that he went in before the Lord and then” came our and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded” (Exod. 34:34). Joshua was told that his life would be a success only if he meditated on God’s Word daily (Josh. 1:8). Samuel is another classic example of one who patiently waited to hear God speak, and then spoke to the people. The result was that the Lord allowed no single word of his to fall to the ground (1 Sam. 3:19).…..Many Christians go through months and years of reading the Bible without seeking to hear God speaking to them through it. Still they seem to be quite satisfied. I ask you, Do you hear the Lord’s voice each day? If not, what is the cause? He speaks to those who listen. What is it that is stopping your spirit’s ears? Is it lack of stillness before Him, lack of humility of spirit, or lack of obedience to what He has already said to you? Or is it perhaps a lack of desire itself? Whatever it be, God grant that it may be remedied at once and permanently. Pray Samuel’s prayer, “Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.” Then open your Bible and seek the face of the Lord earnestly, and you too shall hear His voice
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